physics

Newly Discovered 350-Year-Old Graffiti Shows Sir Isaac Newton's Obsession With Motion Started Early

Conservators used light imaging techniques to spot a tiny windmill sketch that's invisible to the naked eye.

The Fascinating Device Astronauts Use to Weigh Themselves in Space

When conventional scales don't work, they use this instead.

What Is Infinity?

Let's try to wrap our heads around it.

What Causes Turbulence?

It's a lot less scary than it feels.

20 Years Later, James Cameron Is Using Physics to Defend Jack's Death in Titanic

The director claimed that he tested the board itself to gauge its buoyancy.

7 Fascinating Facts About the Sun

Get ready to feel small: The sun is 99.8 percent of the mass of the solar system. Here are more colossal facts about our star.

Einstein's Handwritten Note on Happiness Just Sold for $1.3 Million

He wrote it to tip a hotel bellboy and told him "will probably be worth more than a regular tip."

Stephen Hawking's Ph.D. Thesis Is Now Available Online, and It's Crashing Cambridge's Servers

It was downloaded 60,000 times in 24 hours.

15 Subatomic Word Origins

The names for many of the dozens of particles that make up the universe—as well as a few that are still purely theoretical—come from ancient Greek.

NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet

Astronomers Observe a New Kind of Massive Cosmic Collision for the First Time

"For me, it feels like the dawning of a next era in astrophysics."

Why a Howling Wind Sounds So Spooky, According to Science

Creepy dead trees actually play a part in the phenomenon.

2017 Ig Nobel Prizes Celebrate Research on How Crocodiles Affect Gambling and Other Odd Studies

It's hard to pick a favorite from these off-the-wall studies exploring topics like whether cats can be both solid and liquid, the physics of walking backwards with coffee, and the brain activity of people who are grossed out by cheese.

17 Little-Known Facts About Max Planck

He invented a new branch of physics. He also loved playing tag.

United States Department of Energy // Public Domain

Watch Richard Feynman in Conversation, 1973

In "Take the World from Another Point of View," the physicist visits England with his family.

NASA Figures Out Why When It Rains, It (Sometimes) Drizzles

The study could help improve weather forecasts.

Watch Richard Feynman Explain Fire

"Fire is stored sunshine."

How to Make More Basketball Shots, According to Physics

Go slow.

Watch How To Make a Self-Starting Siphon Using Bendy Straws

File under "Handy stuff you can do with bendy straws."

Why Do Cans of Diet Coke Float While Regular Coke Sinks?

Spoiler alert: It involves sugar.

5 Surprising Things That Have Broken the Speed of Sound

It's not only aircraft that break the sound barrier.

Serving a crowd? Break out the pizza cutter and prepare to do some math.

7 Food and Drink Hacks Based on Math and Science

When it comes to getting the most out of your favorite meals, the hungriest minds in the fields of math and science have got your back.

7 Food and Drink Hacks Based on Math and Science

When it comes to getting the most out of your favorite meals, the hungriest minds in the fields of math and science have got your back.

CuttyP at the German language Wikipedia // CC-BY-SA-3.0

Watch: Free-Fallin' in Bremen's Zero-G Drop Tower

It's cheaper than going to space.

The Top 10 Science Stories of 2016

It's been a big year.